Antonio Maria Valsalva (17 January 1666 – 2 February 1723), was an Italian

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

born in

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

. His research focused on the anatomy of the

ear In vertebrates, an ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear co ...

s. He coined the term

Eustachian tube The Eustachian tube (), also called the auditory tube or pharyngotympanic tube, is a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear, of which it is also a part. In adult humans, the Eustachian tube is approximately long and in diameter. It ...

and he described the aortic sinuses of Valsalva in his writings, published posthumously in 1740. His name is associated with the Valsalva antrum of the

and the

Valsalva maneuver The Valsalva maneuver is performed by a forceful attempt of exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut while expelling air, as if blowing up a balloon. Variations of the maneuver can be ...

, which is used as a test of circulatory function. Anatomical structures bearing his name are ''Valsalva’s muscle'' and ''taeniae Valsalvae''. He observed that when weakness of one side of the body is caused by a lesion in the brain, the culprit lesion tends to be on the side opposite (contralateral) to the weak side; this finding is named the "Valsalva doctrine" in his honor.

Background

Valsalva was born in

, which was then under the rule of the Pope. His initial studies were at a Jesuit school where he studied humanities, mathematics, and

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s. After studies of the liberal arts, he studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

, where he trained under

Marcello Malpighi Marcello Malpighi (10 March 1628 – 30 November 1694) was an Italians, Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "founder of microscopical anatomy, histology and father of physiology and embryology". Malpighi's name is borne by ...

, who was among the first to study microscopic anatomy. Valsalva graduated from medical school in 1687. In 1695, he was named surgeon for the Hospital of the Incurables (Sant"Orsola) in Bologna. In 1705, he was appointed professor of anatomy at the

. He was later chosen as president of the '' Istituto Clementino delle Scienze ed Arti'' (Clementine Institute of Arts and Sciences). Valsalva taught

Giovanni Battista Morgagni Giovanni Battista Morgagni (25 February 1682 – 6 December 1771) was an Italian anatomy, anatomist, generally regarded as the father of modern anatomical pathology, who taught thousands of medical students from many countries during his 56 year ...

who edited Valsalva’s complete writings and published a biography on Valsalva, both in 1740. In 1709, Valsalva married Elena Lisi. As he lost his health, he lost his sense of smell, but he recognized the prodromal symptoms, in the form of dyslalia, of the disease that would eventually cause his death from

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in 1723. Valsalva was buried in the church of San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna. The Valsalva family donated a collection of dried anatomical specimens to be used for educational purposes to the Institute of Sciences founded in 1711. The wear of this material that followed possibly inspired the work of the Bolognese school of wax modeling and the artists Ercole Lelli and Giovanni and

Anna Morandi Manzolini Anna Morandi Manzolini (21 January 1714 – 9 July 1774) was an Italian anatomist, anatomical wax modeler, and lecturer of anatomical design at the University of Bologna. She became internationally known for the production of anatomical wax mode ...

. This new anatomic collection includes models of the heart and lungs and is today presented at the Museum of Anatomy. Valsalva was described as a skillful

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and excellent

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, a meticulous anatomist with high scientific integrity, and a man of great kindness. Morgagni wrote ''". . . there is nobody of those times who goes ahead of him, very few who are his equals."''

Research

Valsalva both studied and taught in the fields of science, surgery, anatomy,

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

, and

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

. At a young age, Valsalva had successfully removed a dog’s kidney. He opposed

cauterization Cauterization (or cauterisation, or cautery) is a medical practice or technique of burning a part of a body to remove or close off a part of it. It destroys some tissue in an attempt to mitigate bleeding and damage, remove an undesired growth, o ...

in the treatment of wounds, and recommended humanitarian treatment of mentally ill patients. His main interest was the

middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and internal ear, including the muscles of the external ear and the pharyngeal muscles. Valsalva named the

and described its function and that of its muscle. He showed the connection between the

mastoid The mastoid part of the temporal bone is the posterior (back) part of the temporal bone, one of the bones of the skull. Its rough surface gives attachment to various muscles (via tendons) and it has openings for blood vessels. From its borders, t ...

cells and the

tympanic cavity The tympanic cavity is a small cavity surrounding the bones of the middle ear. Within it sit the ossicles, three small bones that transmit vibrations used in the detection of sound. Structure On its lateral surface, it abuts the external audit ...

, and made observations on physiologic and pathologic processes of the ear. ''De aure humana tractatus'' published in 1704 contains a description of the

and patency test of the auditory tubes. A skilled anatomist, Valsalva conducted many autopsies on deceased patients. During the 17th century, lacking chemical tests and knowledge of disease transmission mechanisms, he sometimes tasted the fluids he encountered in cadavers in an effort to better characterize them. "Gangrenous pus does not taste good", he wrote, "leaving the tongue tingling unpleasantly for the better part of the day."

Published works

De aure humana tractatus (Treatise on the Human Ear
in quo integra auris fabrica, multis novis inventis & iconismis illustrata, describitur omniumque ejus partium usus indagantur: quibus interposita est musculorum uvulae, atque pharyngis nova descriptio et delineatio; by Antonio Maria Valsalva, Ludugni Batavorum, Gisbertum Langerak and Johannem Hasebroek (1735). (Translated into Italia

by Vincenzo Mangano)

Valsalva device in spacesuits

The Valsalva device is a device used in

spacesuit A space suit (or spacesuit) is an environmental suit used for protection from the harsh Space environment, environment of outer space, mainly from its Vacuum (outer space), vacuum as a highly specialized pressure suit, but also its temperatu ...

s to allow astronauts to equalize the pressure in their ears by performing the

inside the suit without using their hands to block their nose. It has also been used for other purposes, such as to remove moisture from the face.

References

External links

Biographical

A short biography on the life of the dedicated anatomist -Valsalva
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valsalva, Antonio Maria 1666 births 1723 deaths 17th-century Italian physicians 18th-century Italian physicians Italian anatomists People from Imola People from the Papal States